Astros: Bryant Gumbel’s comments on Jim Crane ‘irresponsible’

HBO Sports host Bryant Gumbel said Sunday that Astros owner Jim Crane “has kind of the same tortured history” regarding race-related matters as Donald Sterling, the Clippers owner who has been accused of making racially tinged remarks.

Gumbel, appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” made his comments about Crane during a discussion with host David Gregory, MSNBC host the Rev. Al Sharpton and Lorraine Miller, interim president of the NAACP, regarding the Sterling case and the manner in which it is being addressed by the NBA.

“I don’t want us to sit here, singling out the NBA, because they are not necessarily the exception to the rule,” Gumbel said. “I mean baseball, for example, has an owner down in Houston who has kind of the same tortured history as Donald Sterling, in that his company was sued for discrimination and wound up paying a settlement, and has said sometimes attributed to him that are inopportune.”

The Astros offered a strongly worded rebuttal on Monday:

“Bryant Gumbel’s statement about Jim Crane was completely irresponsible. He attacked Jim without knowing any of the true facts about which he was speaking.

“Gumbel referred to allegations in a lawsuit that were disproven. The federal judge who presided over the case repeatedly admonished the EEOC and plaintiffs’ lawyers for making baseless, inflammatory allegations about Jim and his former company, EGL. The judge stated that the EEOC was “relying on third-rate gossip in order to impugn” EGL and Jim and they were “taking positions that have no factual or legal merit.” In order to avoid the high cost of litigation, EGL agreed to set up a settlement fund that was used to investigate and pay claims. Almost 90% of the funds were eventually returned to EGL because of the lack of valid claims. Not one of the plaintiffs who made the inflammatory allegations ever received a penny.

“Minority hiring and the advancement of minorities in baseball is an important issue to Jim and Major League Baseball. Before approving Jim’s ownership group, all of these issues were thoroughly vetted by MLB. Since becoming owner, Jim has proven to be one of MLB’s best in regard to minority hiring and advancement of minorities. The Houston Astros have two members of the ownership group who are African Americans; the Astros are one of three teams that has an African American manager; the only MLB club that has an African-American radio play-by-play announcer; and the Astros have more African American players than any American League team and the second-highest total in MLB. Jim has also worked hard to help the minority community. The Astros’ Urban Youth Academy provides free services for underprivileged kids and promotes the game of baseball to minority children (mostly African American). Jim created the Community Leaders program which has received commitments of $18 million to refurbish baseball fields in disadvantaged, city-owned neighborhoods. And, under Jim’s ownership, the Astros have hosted the 2013 MLB Diversity Summit; the 2012-13 MLB Urban Invitational, which is nationally-televised and designed by MLB to give Historically Black Colleges and their baseball programs national exposure; and the 2013 MLB Breakthrough Series, which is designed to give high school African-American and Hispanic ballplayers exposure to college and professional baseball scouts. The Astros will also host the 2014 MLB Civil Rights Game, which is a tribute to those that have fought for equality in our nation.

“Mr. Gumbel should have looked at the facts before making such an inflammatory statement.”

Major League Baseball issued the following statement today regarding comments made by Bryant Gumbel on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday:

“Major League Baseball fully vetted Mr. Crane and his former company before approving his purchase of the Houston Astros. A comparison between the remarks allegedly made by an owner in another sport and an issue related not to Mr. Crane personally, but his former corporation, is inaccurate and irresponsible.

“Since owning the Astros, Mr. Crane has made diversity and inclusion top priorities of his franchise, which has demonstrated a commitment to the communities of Houston and its people. Mr. Gumbel’s ill comparison falls far short of the thoughtful conversation and sensitivity that this issue demands.”

An HBO spokesman said Gumbel had no comment beyond his statements on Meet the Press and had no immediate response to the Astros’ statement Monday.

Gumbel’s remarks referred to a 2000 case in which Eagle Global Logistics, which Crane owned at the time, was accused by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a 104-page report of attempting to avoid hiring blacks and women of child-bearing age and other violations. Included was an allegation that EGL instructed that African-Americans should not be hired because “once you hire blacks, you can never fire them.”

The agency sought $20 million from EGL to settle the case, and EGL agreed in 2001 to pay $8.5 million into a settlement fund while denying that it violated employment laws. However, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes in 2005 returned about $6 million to EGL after a review found that 203 of 2,073 claims had merit.

The EEOC case became an issue in 2011 when the Houston chapter of the NAACP expressed concerns about Crane’s bid to buy the Astros from Drayton McLane. Crane met with a group that included the Rev. D.Z. Cofield, president of the local NAACP chapter and pastor of Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church, and former NBA player Clyde Drexler.

“We believe that Mr. Crane has the opportunity to set a new standard and raise the bar for how sports franchises engage with the community,” Cofield said after the meeting.

Crane in a 2011 interview with the Chronicle objected to the manner in which his behavior was described.

“I was never personally accused of discriminating against anyone, and I have never discriminated with anyone,” he said. “The way this is reported is that I’ve had issues with minorities and blacks, and that’s just not the case.”

He added, “The company ended up settling a small group of claims only because the board felt that it was more economical for the shareholders to go ahead and pay out a small number on cases that we could probably have litigated and won. I didn’t want to pay the claims, but when it costs $3 million to try them and $900,000 to pay them out, it’s a business decision at that point.”

After taking control of the team, Crane launched a Community Leaders Program that raises money from local corporations to build or refurbish youth baseball and softball fields in disadvantaged neighborhoods throughout the city. He also hired Bo Porter, who is African-American, as the team’s manager.